The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 570

Chapter 569: Choose Your Dream Mentor

[Grey·Eternity is imparting “High-Tier Divine Art (11/11)” to you. Do you wish to pay 644 Public Experience to master this Mystical Art?]
“Confirm payment.”
Eivass thought to himself.
As these words were spoken, Eivass’s experience points plummeted back to a pitiful two digits.
That was too close; thankfully, it was just enough.
Eivass was dripping with cold sweat. If he hadn’t managed to defeat Cardinal Loki once, his experience would have been insufficient—the Pure White Saintess’s mastery of these eleven volumes of High-Tier Divine Art was quite uneven. The least expensive volume required just over a hundred experience points, while the most expensive demanded a staggering twelve hundred.
Considering the title of that particular volume, “High-Tier Divine Art: Annotations on the Path of Love—Love, Friendship, Desire, and All Vices,” Eivass felt it was somewhat understandable.
Considering Master Janis’s issues, the Pure White Saintess might not have studied this volume thoroughly back then. Perhaps she simply couldn’t concentrate or couldn’t bear to read it, or maybe she was distracted, or felt too embarrassed to discuss such an overtly intimate subject with Eivass. After all, the majority of elves were more conservative.
These eleven volumes of High-Tier Divine Art covered history and principles in the first volume, and methods and approaches in the second. The remaining nine volumes were all about communicating with the Pillar Gods, Heavenly Envoys, Apostles, and Phantom Demons of the Nine Great Paths, as well as understanding those paths and controlling oneself. Therefore, strictly speaking, one could learn High-Tier Divine Art by studying just three volumes.
High-Tier Divine Art required delving into one’s inner self, allowing oneself to become a vessel to receive the descent of a great will. This, in turn, necessitated suppressing one’s own ego to “make room.”
It was akin to having an expert take over during a surgery, painting, or other intricate task. You would at least need to stand back and watch quietly, without interfering. If you angered the expert and they left, that would be the least of your worries; vying for control of the body could lead to even greater problems.
Therefore, it was crucial to lock down one’s own body, limiting its actions during the descent of a great will. It was like playing a game where you shouldn’t keep auto-battle skills that could lead to self-destruction, as the AI might use them carelessly. To achieve this, one had to be aware of the personal preferences and taboos of all great existences—this was one of the reasons it was called High-Tier Divine Art.
This was because its underlying logic was practically identical to that of divine arts.
If “Fire Worship” and “Illuminate Spell” were prerequisites for the “Torchbearer,” then “Praying” and “Blessing” were the true prerequisites for High-Tier Divine Art.
Divine arts involved requesting power from a great being through means like praying and blessing, much like formally submitting your needs when asking someone for a favor and then waiting for the process to unfold. High-Tier Divine Art, on the other hand, was like a direct call to the great being, allowing them to complete the task automatically. If you had no prior relationship with this great being, you would need to maintain a sufficiently good relationship from the outside.
The difference lay in that divine arts involved inquiring about a great being’s preferences only when needed, while High-Tier Divine Art was about preemptively building up “favor.”
In this regard, Eivass finally understood why the Church operated on relationships.
Because the founder of the Church, the first Pope, Heavenly Candlemaster Envoy, developed divine arts that were essentially “favor-based divine arts”!
The knowledge contained within those last nine books alone constituted “secret knowledge” that an ordinary Bishop could not possibly master and had to be passed down through generations.
Even the textbooks on praying arts that the Church taught its Bishops would never detail the preferences and aversions of these great beings. It was akin to a private ledger filled with the contact information, addresses, weaknesses, leverage, preferences, past experiences, and personal relationships of various great beings…
Disseminating such information too widely could truly enrage these existences within the Dream Realm.
Conversely, having thoroughly read these books would enable one to achieve twice the results even when performing ordinary prayers and blessings—because they would already possess crucial intelligence.
In this World, knowledge was power. This was especially true for information concerning Pillar God-tier existences.
Therefore, even though Eivass had mastered High-Tier Divine Art through the system, he still had to peruse the latter books upon his return. This was genuinely valuable knowledge, which explained why the elves had sealed them in such secure boxes and only allowed access after reading the first two volumes. They were afraid of this knowledge being lost.
As his experience points gradually depleted, Eivass felt the power surging within him.
Under her pure white gaze, Eivass’s pupils once again lost their spirit.
At this very moment, Eivass’s pupils completely turned crimson.
It was a sacred flame, like that of the Sun.
Instantly, golden patterns appeared within the crimson center—they condensed into flame-like, mesmerizing vertical pupils. Then, an invisible surge of energy expanded from Eivass in all directions.
Eivass felt warmth, followed by heat.
It was like wearing thick clothing and walking from a cold room into the sunlight. In an instant, he was drenched in sweat.
Under the intense dizziness, the world before Eivass’s eyes blurred.
He felt his liquid soul being twisted by some power—like blowing glass, bubbles emerged and bubbled within it.
“It’s Dissolving Soul…”
At that moment, Eivass suddenly heard a voice behind him.
He spun around abruptly and found himself in a pure white space.
In a daze, the pure white space gradually gained color… like a game whose textures hadn’t loaded, the world slowly took on contours.
It was a spring mountainside. A clear stream, emerald green leaves, bright sunlight, and the cheerful chirping of birds under a blue sky.
“…Samsara Heavenly Envoy?”
The questioning voice sounded again.
Eivass turned around again and discovered that a man had appeared beside him at some point.
He possessed an exceptionally handsome and gentle appearance, with light golden long hair cascading to his waist, and no adornments on his head or face. He was clad in a single-colored white robe… but only his upper body was human.
From his waist down, he had the majestic body of a white deer. And atop his head, he had a pair of giant white antlers, similar to those of a Candlemaster.
Those antlers were extraordinarily clean, possessing the luster of bone china and golden patterns. They were so white they seemed to glow—at the tip of each branch burned a silvery white flame, the radiance of which illuminated the other antlers, making his entire set of giant antlers glow.
The half-human, half-deer man was looking down at Eivass intently.
At this moment, Eivass realized he was not human… nor was he the fox from before, but had transformed into a young deer without antlers.
He nervously and awkwardly took steps with his hooves, unaware of his appearance.
Seeing this, the man let out a hearty laugh.
“It seems I was mistaken.”
He gently patted Eivass’s head and said softly, “If you can’t find a god to contract with in the end, come find me.
“Remember my name, young priest, I am Heavenly Candlemaster Envoy… the first Pope.
“My True Name is… An·Eternity.”
The next moment, the illusion dissipated.
Eivass then realized he had somehow ended up sitting on the ground, with Pure White beside him, holding him. Her entire body was radiating light, constantly casting Illuminate Spell on Eivass.
Eivass’s body was burning hot, like a graphics card working overtime—you could visibly see his skin turning red, with rings of purplish-red depressions like nooses appearing and reappearing.
Under the healing of Illuminate Spell, those marks constantly appeared and faded. Eivass’s body looked like randomly dug watermelons, with overlapping pits.
Finally, it stopped at a position identical to Cardinal Matilda’s—the center of Eivass’s chest.
The noose-like mark materialized and deepened, finally cracking and bleeding.
The wound healed again, revealing a black brand—
It was a ring formed by a snake biting its own tail.
It resembled a black sun during an eclipse.
“…Congratulations. You are the first non-elf race in nearly four hundred years to learn High-Tier Divine Art; and the first short-lived race in the entire world to master High-Tier Divine Art.”
Witnessing the miracle she had long awaited, Pure White said with a complex expression, “Should I start calling you… Cardinal Moriarty? Or do you prefer Cardinal Eivass?”
“…Do I not need to fully master High-Tier Divine Art?”
Eivass asked softly.
The sound of his own voice startled him—it was hoarse and weak, like Yulia’s when she had a high fever.
In that instant, he suddenly understood Yulia’s feelings.
At this moment, his soul was completely open… although there was nothing within, it was a “dwelling.”
A “flesh and blood dwelling” capable of accommodating a Phantom Demon!
“Have you already decided who you will contract with?”
Pure White frowned slightly. “Won’t you reconsider? I must emphasize again… each God Descent Ritual is equivalent to digging a hole in your soul. Repeatedly digging holes can cause soul damage. It’s best to undergo an Ascension Ritual to reforged your soul before proceeding with the second round of rituals.
“This means you can only contract with one entity before your next Ascension Ritual—have you decided who it will be?”
“…I’ve basically decided.”
Eivass replied.
Because of the Shepherd’s Secret, he had to strike a balance between Transcendence and Devotion. Therefore, he could not choose either of these paths unless he could contract with both simultaneously.
Aside from that, he had no prior relationship with Hengwo, Hourglass, Great Philosopher, or Amber. He had no assurance that they would readily accept his ‘resume.’ If his resume were rejected and he had to reapply, it would be a waste of time. As for Heavenly Envoys and Apostles other than Pillar Gods, Eivass didn’t even consider them.
Thus, Eivass’s choices for his first contracted entity were quite limited.
He could choose from Crown Lord, Twin, and Lord of Scales and Feathers—one out of three.
So…
“—I will choose the Lord of Scales and Feathers.”
Eivass gave the name that first sprang to mind without hesitation.
For some reason, he felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity with that entity.